Activity in the country's services sector shrank in November at the fastest pace in over eight years as recession and a global downturn continued to take its toll on demand.
The NCB Purchasing Managers' index survey fell in November to 32.6 from 36.1 the month before, the tenth fall in a row. The index was at its weakest last month since data began to be collected in May 2000 with over 45% of survey participants reporting lower activity last month.
Service providers were also more pessimistic in November than at any other time in the survey's history. Some respondents said they expected the economic downturn to worsen next year and the business confidence index fell to 43.6 in November from 46 in October.
As has been the case since March, staffing levels fell in November as companies cut jobs in response to lower activity requirements.
Weak demand and lower fuel costs contributed to an easing in input price inflation. While input costs rose slightly, the rise was the slowest in the survey's history.
Driven by a combination of lower interest rates and company responses to reduced demand, November saw the biggest rate of output charge deflation since the survey was started. Output prices have declined in each of the past four months.
'Anecdotal evidence suggested that the principal cause of the latest reduction in activity were conditions in the wider Irish economy where the economic downturn has led to a steep fall in new business,' said NCB economist Brian Devine.
